1046This is the brilliant Gerry Kreibich, formerly my journalism lecturer at university, a man I’ve long been in awe of. His words of encouragement some years ago helped inspire me to pursue a career that transformed my life. Many of his former pupils have gone on to become prominent journalists, who you will have heard of, in large news organisations.

His SOTM comes from his beloved son Simon, who died of cancer. Simon said he wanted this quote as an epitaph, and Gerry honoured this wish by placing it on Simon’s gravestone, where the word “lived” is carved in capitals.

“I wanted to make sure people didn’t think it was a mistake, to ensure they realised the point Simon was making,” Gerry said.

Taken in a church hall in Notting Hill, London, at a fundraising activity for the charity Real Life Ghana which helps children in Ghana.